Rangers solid in 5-3 win over Columbus

Notes on the game

Dryden Hunt had seven shots on goal to lead the team, but it was Artemi Panarin who was most obvious in the offensive zone.  Booed every time he touched the puck, Panarin had six shots on goal and missed on four others.  From the blueliners, Trouba had six shots on goal and attempted eight.

Trouba had a very dynamic game, probably his best offensive effort of the season.  It’s a good sign that they are finally getting some scoring from blueliners other than Adam Fox with K’Andre Miller scoring against Florida.  Before that, only Ryan Lindgren had scored among defensemen other than Fox.

The power play is heating up with seven goals in 19 attempts, a 37% success rate.  The penalty kill has been less successful, allowing four goals in their last 10 times shorthanded.

Chris Kreider continued his torrid scoring.  He now has 11 goals and 14 points including a league leading seven power play goals.  He is third in the NHL in goal scoring.

Before this season the fewest games it took for Kreider to reach 11 goals was last season when it took 21 games.  With 13 goals in 21 games, he turned ice cold, scoring only seven times in his last 29 games.

Artemi Panarin is heating up and has three goals and 11 points in his last seven games.

Their nine goals in two games is the most they have scored in a two game stretch this season.

The defense definitely needs to tighten up. They have given up 18 goals in their last four games after allowing only 22 goals in their first 10 games. They’ve allowed three goals or more in five straight games.

Dryden Hunt’s seven shots on goal was only one way the fourth line stood out. They were outstanding in the offensive zone, working the puck deep and cycling.  They actually played more minutes than the third line.  Ryan Reaves led the Blueshirts with seven hits.

Julien Gauthier had a very solid game on the third line and got his first point of the season on a nifty feed that led to the Rangers’ fourth goal.  He also drew a penalty and had three hits.  Let’s see if that’s enough to keep him in the lineup.

Before the game, the Rangers put Filip Chytil on injured reserve and promoted Greg McKegg from Hartford.  That’s why Gauthier may find a seat on the bench again.

The third defense pairing is having trouble. Patrik Nemeth is valuable killing penalties and as a team leading shot blocker, but Nils Lundkvist looks like he could se some seasoning in the AHL.  With Libor Hajek getting some playing time in Hartford on a conditioning assignment, it could lead to a demotion for Lundkvist.   Tarmo Reunanen and Zac Jones lead Hartford in scoring and are candidates for promotion as well.

When Alexandre Texier barrelled into Shesterkin the third period, he was tackled immediately by Chris Kreider though Patrik Nemeth checked Texier into his own goalie.

It was notable considering the criticism over lack of response to a similar collision with Anthony Duclair and Patric Hornqvist hacking at Shesterkin on the Panther’s second goal.  After the game, Kreider argued that there was a response, but it was mostly verbal which he said was enough as the Panthers didn’t continue crash the net after that point.

Igor Shesterkin made some excellent saves, especially early on when the Blue Jackets were buzzing.

The goal he allowed to Eric Robinson was a soft one that he should have had, but he was screened on the Voracek goal and the Texier goal was going wide when it hit the Blue Jacket in the chest and bounced into the net.

With an early exit for Shesterkin, he could get the start in the second of back-to-back games on Sunday versus New Jersey.  Gallant said that he would be available to play against the Devils and didn’t rule out goalies making consecutive starts.  As always, he left the decision up to goalie coach Benoit Allaire.

Their three goals in 63 seconds was nowhere near the franchise record. That record is 28 seconds and it belongs to Doug Sulliman, Eddie Johnstone and Warren Miller in a 6-6 tie with the Colorado Rockies in 1980.  It was the fastest three goals for the Blueshirts since they scored three in 60 seconds in 1993.  The NHL record was set by the Bruins in 1971 when they scored three times in 20 seconds.

With two assists, Adam Fox is second among defensemen with 15 points, one behind Roman Josi of Nashville.  He broke a four-way tied with Kevin Shattenkirk, Tony DeAngelo and Seth Jones.  He is tied for the lead among blueliners with 12 assists.

This was the Rangers league leading sixth win.  They have taken 14 of a possible 20 points on the road this season, also best in the NHL.